Hypermedia documents are computer-based electronic documents that contain text, graphics, audio and video on pages that are connected by navigational links. The navigational links, often referred to as the hyperlinks, permit non-sequential or non-linear traversal of the document by the readers. A well-known source of hypermedia documents is the so-called World Wide Web (WWW) or simply, “the Web”.
Hypermedia documents allow multiple simultaneous views and efficient non-linear exploration of information that are not possible with conventional printed documents such as books. On the other hand, unlike books, the absence of an obvious linear structure and a sense of physical orientation in hypermedia documents allows users to become easily lost in the hyperspace of the document.
Although hypermedia documents may be printed, the hyperlinking functionality is typically lost in the printed copy. Most hypermedia documents, especially those on the Web are intended for viewing on the screen and designed to exploit the hyperlinking functionality. As a result, readability also suffers with the loss of the hyperlinks. For instance, removing the hyperlink to the definition of an unfamiliar term may make a description unclear to the readers.
Australian Patent Publication No. AU-A-83194/98 (Attorney Ref: 432345 CFP0954AU MMedia02), corresponding to United States of America patent application Ser. No. 09/148,475 discloses a method for forming hypermedia documents that retain their electronic hyperlinks as physical hyperlinks within the printed reproduction of the document. The method associates the hyperlinks with cut-outs or tabs on the edges of the pages and lines or other indicia printed onto the page. To traverse a hyperlink, the reader follows the indicia, places a finger or thumb within the cut-out, locates the first uncut page surface below the cut-out and opens that page.
As the number of hyperlinks increase, it is apparent that the number of cut-outs and thus hyperlinks, is limited by the physical dimensions of the pages. It is therefore desirable to reuse the cut-outs for multiple hyperlinks and optimise their assignment.